History

The Conca Dellà

Roman world from the 1st century

Conca Dellà has been occupied from ancient times. Some remains dated before the Roman occupation has been found. From the 1st century BC, the Roman city of Aeso was founded and the area was intensely populated, as the city's influence caused the consolidation of Roman villas, that is to say, estates devoted to agricultural exploitation.

One part of the Aeso Roman city has been conserved on the soil of the current town of Isona. The other part is located on the crops adjoining to the villa. Nowadays, part of its wall is already known and it is hoped that, in further archaeological excavation expeditions, the internal structure of the city will be discovered.

Aeso, spearhead of Romanization in inner Catalonia, is one of the least widely known Roman cities, although it is not less important for this reason. The Romanization period in Isona lasted five centuries, from the end of the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD.

After the archaeological confirmation of the existence of an Iberian settlement, known under the name of Eso, it is possible to talk about a first Roman occupation -a military camp in the 2nd century BC. At the beginning of the 1st century BC, it led to the creation of a 4-hectare city with a urban plan similar to other foundations from the same age.

At the end of the 1st century AD, Aeso became the Municipium Aesonensis, a city with full rights. As time went by, it grew and extended beyond its walls, while undergoing urban changes.

Between the end of the 4th century AD and the beginning of the 5th century AD Aeso had to face a strong crisis from which it never recovered. Some of its quarters depopulated an those who continued living in the city probably gathered in the high area.

The most important Roman legacy preserved up to the present is the excellent epigraphic memorial tablets collection found in the Isona municipality. In addition to the life of the city's most important families, epigraphs have allowed knowing about the life of Lucius Aemilius Paternus, the most distinguished character within Aeso's history, a famous centurion of the Roman legions, decorated three times by Emperor Trajan.

We highlight some of the points of interest of the city of AESO:

City wall and domus of the Antonii family

Location map: in red, the wall; in yellow the Antonii’s domus.
Cartography: orthoimages from ICGC
Made by: Xavier Bermúdez

Image from 1994, during the excavation works. From right to left, the wall. The attached rooms, the corridor and the yard at the basis of the column.
Author: Teresa Reyes

Reconstructions proposed for the wall and the Antonii´s domus
Authors: E. Revilla i Glòria Llompart.

The most notable remains of the Roman Aeso (some visible, and others covered for their conservation) can be found along the Camí de la Torreta. Between 1987 and 1994 several archaeological interventions took place, under the direction of Mercè Molina, Robert Farré, Ferran Puig, Pepa Beà, Teresa Reyes and Xavier Payà.

The most obvious element is the city wall, of which a 60 m long section can be seen, adapting to the changing ground level by creating a step. To build it, the geological layers were cut back to create a flat base. Next, the wall was erected, building an outer side and an inner side of stone, filling the space between these with earth. In total, these three parts (stone-earth-stone) add up to a thickness of 1.5 m.

The stone sections have two rows of large blocks at the base (with small tiles in specific points) and medium-sized and small blocks at the top. Depending on the section, 1 to 3.5 m of the height of the wall has been conserved. We can assume that the walls would have reached a total height of 10 m, but the majority would have been built with rammed earth that did not survive. To finish off the structure, we can assume there were also merlons.

At the southern end of this section of the city wall, the lowest part, there is a square tower (the “Torreta”, which gave the street its name). The tower does not date back to when the wall was built, but was added in the 4-5th centuries AD. The rest of the wall (of which other sections are known), corresponds to when the city of Aeso was founded, at the beginning of the 1st century BC. It is also important to note that during the excavation, diverse structures from the Iberian age were also found, such as the walls that are still visible underneath the foundations of the city wall.

The other notable building of this part of the city is known as the domus of the Antonii. It is a large domus attached to the inner face of the city wall. In addition to the visible walls, other walls and column bases were also found. Together, all of these structures made up four rooms (lined along the city wall) which opened out onto an arcaded corridor. This corridor, in turn, was separated from an inner courtyard by a colonnade. These elements and their layout are typical of Roman domestic architecture; according to the dimensions of the patio (which in this case are unknown) it would have been called an atrium or a peristyle.

The excavation led the construction of the house to be dated between the end of the 1st and beginning of the 2nd century AD. It would have been abandoned at the end of the 3rd century AD.

During the excavation a fragment of Italian marble was discovered with an inscription referring to the Antonii family. Other inscriptions referring to this important family from Aeso have also been found, but the fact that this inscription was found inside the house led to the presumption that it was their house.

Decumanus maximus

Location map, with the track of decumanus maximus (red), the proposal for the kardo maximus (in red, discontinuous line), the proposal of the street network (in yellow, discontinuous line), and the possible location of the forum (in blue)
Cartography: orthoimages from ICGC
Made by: Xavier Bermúdez

Present-day image of Carrer Soledat, which displays the alignment of decumanus maximus
Made by: Xavier Bermúdez

Roman cities were organised around two main axes: the cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus. In ideal conditions these streets were north-south oriented and east-west oriented, respectively. However, the relief modified this principle: this is the case of the Roman city of Aeso, which adapts to the form and orientation of an elongated hill. In this way, the decumanus maximus was designed with a south-west/north-east orientation, crossing the city from one end to the other. This design has been exceptionally fossilised in the current Carrer Soledat; in other words, although the street and the buildings are modern, the plots of land have maintained very similar proportions and alignment to the way they were in the 1st century BC.

The cardo maximus, the other main street that would have crossed the city, would be the current Carrer de Sant Jaume (north-western/south-eastern orientation). Parallel streets were then designed, based on these two axes, outlining a regular grid of blocks where domus (houses) and small insulae (more humble apartment blocks) coexisted. In addition to houses, there were also tabernae (shops) and thermopolia (simple restaurants).

What we know for certain about Aesois that, as a Roman town, it had to have public buildings to carry out the administrative, legal and religious functions of the city. These types of buildings were usually situated in the forum area, a large public square where the two main streets joined. Although it is not known for certain where this would have been in Isona, it may have been the current Plaça del Bisbe Badia, fulfilling several arguments: it is a space in the centre of the Roman city, it is slightly higher than the surrounding area (adding to its imposing presence) and it is where most Roman stone plaques with inscriptions have been found, which in some cases correspond to the pedestals of statues.

South-western entrance and thermal baths

Location map: in red, the tower; in yellow, the bath area
Cartography: orthoimages from ICGC
Made by: Xavier Bermúdez

Detailed map with the remains: in red, a tower fragment; in grey, the walls of the bath area; in light grey, the street; in pink, the surface.
Cartography: orthoimages from ICGC
Made by: Xavier Bermúdez

Prospect well with the tower protecting the door
Author: Teresa Reyes

Bath area built on the collapsed wall and a street
Author: Teresa Reyes

Surfaces and walls (with white cover) of the second area of the building
Author: Teresa Reyes

Between the endof the 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s of the 20th century, several excavations were undertaken to establish the limits of the perimeter of the walls at Aeso. Two of these digs focused on the extreme south-west of the city, currently occupied by market gardens or orchards known as “horts”: the dig undertaken in 1989 at the hort del Fideuer (under the supervision of Pepa Beà and Teresa Reyes) and that undertaken in 1992 at the hort del Cavaller (supervised by Joan Eusebi Garcia and Anna M. Monleón).

At the hort del Cavaller they discovered a section of the wall including a tower, which was part of the wall itself. The form of the tower, built on a solid base, was rectangular with a rounded external face. The archaeologists’ interpretation was that it was one of the two towers that flanked either side of the south-westgate ofAeso, given that the city’s main street (the decumanus maximus) starts from that point. Another dig at the “hort” revealed, in addition, that there was an inflection in the orientation of the wall, confirming its hexagonal form.

The dig at the hort del Fideuer led to the discovery of a section of the citywall. The most interesting finding was that the wall was demolished in the 2nd century AD in order to build a building on the site. Therefore the city needed to grow, even if this meant sacrificing defensive elements at a time when it was not considered threatened. The building in question had an area with a floor made of opus signinum (a very resistant mixture of lime and terra-cotta fragments) and two walls, of about 2.5 metres in conserved height, the lower part being rendered. The other area excavated also had a floor made of opus signinum, and there were elements such as pilae, a bipedalis and terra-cotta channels. These elements, along with the type of floors are usually found in heated rooms where water is present. Hence the archaeological team proposed that these were baths, thermal baths (public baths) or balnea (private baths in an important house). The building would have been working until the second third of the 3rd century AD. Completing the findings of this interesting dig, they found a section of more than 7 meters of a cobbled street running parallel to the decumanus maximus, which provided direct access to the building.

In sum, the remains found in this area are of great value because they indicate that a great many of the current “horts” formed part of the Roman city. They also explain what the wall was like, along with the entrance gate and the towers which protected it, and show that from the 2nd century AD the city started to grow outside the city walls (a fact which has also been documented at the market gardens which lie further north of the road known as camí de la Torreta).

North-east wall

Present-day image of Carrer de Sant Mateu and Plaça del Raval, which preserve the alignment of the Roman wall.
Author: Xavier Bermúdez.

As with streets, large constructions can also be fossilised in the urban grid. Such is the case of the north-eastern end of the Roman city of Aeso, the walls of which were absorbed by subsequent buildings that maintained the same alignment. Thus, the current Carrer de Sant Mateu, the Plaça del Raval and the Plaça del Pi would have defined three of the sides of the wall. At the centre of this wall face (possibly the current number 10 of the Plaça del Raval) a gate would have opened, flanked by two towers such as that situated at the south-western entrance.

On the other side of this gate was one of the main streets, fossilised in the current Carrer de L’Oller’Oller. This street extended along the alignment of Carrer Soledat, identified as the decumanus maximus of the Roman city, and would probably have led to the current centre of Abella de la Conca (which was built on an important Roman town). On each side of the street there were probably funeral monuments of different types and category, as indicated by the unearthing of gravestones in the surrounding areas.

Domus of the "Era del Serret"

Detailed map with the remains.
Cartography: orthoimages from ICGC
Made by: Xavier Bermúdez

Image from 2000, during the excavations.
Author: Eva Solanes

Búnker of the Spanish Civil War

In 2000, on account of the construction of the building that is currently at Carrer Torreta, number 5, an urgent archaeological intervention was undertaken, under the direction of Eva Solanes and Josep Farràs.

The excavation led to the discovery of several large rooms of a house situated in the Roman city. Fragments of plaster from the walls were found, with traces of red, black, green and white paint. Three granaries (deposits dug in the ground where cereals were stored) associated with the house were also discovered. Once these were no longer used they were filled with rubbish (including a lot of ceramics). All of these remains helped to date the house back to the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, a period known as the High Roman Empire, which was when the city of Aeso was at its most glorious.

During the excavation carbon levels were discovered, leading the archaeologists to interpret that the house may have been destroyed by fire. Other remains found during the excavation revealed that this space was also occupied during the middle ages.

Conca Dellà holds documents and remains of many elements of the historical and artistic heritage left by mankind in this area. It is worth mentioning the middle Ages evidences in the current villages such as hermitages, churches and castles. There are also some of these buildings in areas that are deserted today, either because the population has moved to lower heights or because they have been definitely abandoned.

Time always leaves its trace, so that it is impossible to forget that, unfortunately, Conca Dellà was strongly damaged during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. There is evidence of this fact in various sites: trenches, machine gun hiding places, bunkers or the construction of parts of these villages belonging to the valley.

Some historical and artistic interest spots should be mentioned:

Bunker of the Spanish Civil War

Conca Dellà holds documents and remains of many elements of the historical and artistic heritage left by mankind in this area. It is worth mentioning the middle Ages evidences in the current villages such as hermitages, churches and castles. There are also some of these buildings in areas that are deserted today, either because the population has moved to lower heights or because they have been definitely abandoned.

Time always leaves its trace, so that it is impossible to forget that, unfortunately, Conca Dellà was strongly damaged during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. There is evidence of this fact in various sites: trenches, machine gun hiding places, bunkers or the construction of parts of these villages belonging to the valley.

Llordà Castle

Located at the top of a hill to the north of the Llordà village. This fortress dates from the 11th century. It is one of the most important examples of non strictly religious but residential architecture from the High Middle Ages which have been preserved in Catalonia. This building was constructed by Arnau Mir de Tost, one of the most significant characters related with the feudal expansion.

It has two different areas: the lower includes the church and the canonical building, as well the remains of what seems to have been the old village; the upper area consists of the real castle, including the palace -with the noble building at the top and the servants or troops rooms at a lower level.

At the moment, this architectural set is under a restoration and architectural consolidation process. In addition, it is hoped that current archaeological excavations will bring new data.

Orcau Castle

Located at the top of the hill behind the Orcau village and built between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th. The castle set is divided into two environments joint by a peripheral wall -the castle and the church. One may also observe the remains of a walled deserted spot.
The castle has an almost square ground plan. Circular towers were built on each of its four angles. The Piety church is a building with a nave -but no aisles-, which south façade and vault collapsed in 1962. The National Art Museum of Catalonia, in Barcelona, preserves some of the mural paintings that were once held by its apse.

Saint Mary’s Church, Covet

Located inside the village of Covet, it is dated at the first half of the 12th century. Its main façade has a sculptured monumental portal that is considered to be one of the most exceptional

Romanesque sculpture sets in Catalonia.

Inside the church, it is worth mentioning the existence of a raised gallery over the façade wall, as well as the decoration of the impost inside the central apse and the sculptures decorating the transverse rips capitals.

Saint Andrew's Church, Biscarri

Situated in the upper part of the old Biscarri village, it is dated between the 11th and 12th centuries. It is a building with a nave -but no aisles- covered with a barrel vault and a semicircular ground plan central apse decorated on the external side with Lombard blind arcades placed in twos between the pilaster strips.

Saint Michael's Church, Conques

Located in the village of Conques, where he had been at the foot of the castle which today are only some remains. It has two parts belonging to different periods. The first one -which is older and built in a Gothic style at the end of the 12th century-, corresponds to the central nave, which still holds mural painting remains representing a clergyman's funerary portrait.

The second part -more modern, belonging to the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th- includes two chapels: The Rosary's and Holy Christ's chapels. The latter is quite remarkable for its complex pictorial iconography.

Saint Stephen's Church, Abella de la Conca

Located in the highest part of the Abella de la Conca village, dating from the 11th century. It has a nave and two aisles, all of them finished with an apse, and it is decorated on the external side with Lombard blind arcades. It is worth mentioning a bell tower that was built later, open with geminate windows and equally decorated with Lombard blind arcades.

Inside the church, there are still remains of mural paintings, probably from the 12th-13th centuries. There are two altarpieces from this church, one of them is Roser altarpiece represents scenes of the life of the Virgin Mary, today is at Museu Diocesà de la Seu d'Urgell, and the other Pietat altarpiece, that after spending time at the Museum of the Conca Dellà now you can visit in the church of Abella de la Conca.

Figuerola d'Orcau Village

Figuerola -situated on a hill- is the village within Conca Dellà that preserves best its enclosed medieval village structure. The oldest part is situated around the church, while a posterior extension is enlarged beyond the main square, where some noble buildings from the 16th century still remain.

The village has two religious buildings: in the first place, Saint Mary's church, situated inside the village and dating from the 12th century, which has an extremely high bell gable with six holes. In the second place, the church of Prat, situated in the outskirts and dating from the 18th century, which shows a rich pictorial decoration of the time inside.